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ONE HUNDRED INSTITUTIONALLY TRAINED MALE 

DEFECTIVES IN THE COMMUNITY UNDER 

SUPERVISION 

By Mabel A. Matthews 

Head Social Worker, Massachusetts School for Feeble-Minded, 
Waverly, Massachusetts 

These boys studied were not a selected group, but were studied 
because they were within easy reach of the School, and, not having 
been discharged, were still under its control. They were allowed 
to return to their homes either because their parents or friends 
asked that they might go "on trial," or because they were taken 
home on vacations, and, securing work, were for that reason put 
u on trial." Two of these boys "ran away" from the School and 
were later allowed to go on the list to report. Seven were allowed 
to go out and take positions because it was thought that they were 
sufficiently trained to be self-supporting. 

At the present time ninety-seven out of the one hundred boys 
studied are living in the community. The School, by means of 
its follow-up system, has kept in touch with these boys. Some of 
them have excellent homes and require little supervision, but other 
less fortunate ones require constant oversight. Nevertheless, all 
are required to report at the School at regular intervals. 

The group of seven, referred to before, who are alone in the 
world, have been placed at work and are rooming in respectable 
lodgings. All except one of these seven have made friends and 
are pleasantly situated, but the seventh was not so fortunate. He 
went out four years ago, before supervision began, and fell into 
the hands of unscrupulous people, who, although they did not lead 
him into any actual wrongdoing, fleeced him of all his earnings. 
When he was located, he was placed in a different environment and 
is now doing well. 

Three of the one hundred boys have been returned to the School : 
one for committing an indecent assault, another because he either 
could not or would not keep a job and his people wished his return, 



and the third, a young boy whose training is hot yet completed, 
and who lost his job during the recent business depression, because 
his people wished him to have further training. 

Of the extra-institutional cases still in the community, five are 
young boys with a fairly high I. Q. who are living at home and 
attending the public schools. Two other boys with a mentality of 
less than eight years are doing farm work at home. One boy, 
twenty-four years old, has a mental age of less than eight, and in 
addition, is hemiplegic. He is unable to hold a position; he is, 
however, able to be of much assistance in housework at home. 
Another boy has a six-year old mind and can do little that is of 
economic value, although he is of some assistance to his people. 
Two boys are in the Army, one in the Navy, and another is taking 
the Government Vocational Training work. Four boys are out of 
work because of the hard times. These four are living at home 
and are closely supervised by their people. Two boys have been 
sent to reform schools. Notwithstanding the present scarcity of 
work, andlhe fact that a number have had to find new jobs, sev- 
enty-§e>^rr boys are working and are self-supporting, although 
many of them have been reduced in pay or have had to take infe- 
rior positions. 

An investigation of the conditions which led to the commitment 
of these boys showed that forty-five were admitted to the school 
through the courts for misdemeanors of a more or less serious na- 
ture, or because their anti-social traits and acts had so disturbed 
their relatives that they felt something must be done. Perhaps 
the most serious case was that of a boy with a nine-year old mind 
who got into bad company and following the example of his asso- 
ciates, who were older, drank heavily. One night in trying to get 
money out of a gas meter in order to buy more liquor, he broke the 
pipes and gas escaped, killing his crony, who was lying in a drunken 
stupor. This was so serious an offense that only after much delib- 
eration did the courts decide to consider the boy not responsible 
for the act, and to send him to the School where he remained a 
long time. His drinking had been due to the example of his low 
associates rather than to any strong desire for liquor. While at 
the School this habit sank into the background and he established 

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
.3 Deceived 

JUU 51922 

DOCUMENTS D'.V. ; 



habits of quiet, orderly living and industry. About three years 
ago he was allowed to go home "on trial." His people now under- 
stand the situation and are giving him excellent supervision. He 
works steadily and earns thirty dollars a week, which he gives to 
his mother. He is not spending his evenings on the streets and so 
has not drifted back to his old habits and acquaintances. He goes 
out with his brother to the "movies" or theatres, and is faithful 
in his attendance at church. 

Twenty-five of the hundred were admitted to the School because 
their parents wanted them to have the advantages of the training 
at the School; twenty were admitted through the efforts of Social 
Agencies working throughout the State; and ten came through the 
efforts of hospitals or doctors. The boys entered the institution 
at various ages, but most of them were brought when they were 
young, eight or nine years old, and stayed until they had passed 
the adolescent period of unrest and went out at nineteen years of 
age or more. 

The range of wages for the group under eight years mentally 
runs from $8 to $3TVper week. There is no outstanding peak of 
wages for this group. One boy is carrying a hod for $30 a week 
and one is a helper on a freight truck at $26. Three are earning 
$24 a week — two as helpers on a truck and one as a roofer's 
helper. One has been getting $22 a week in a manufacturing 
plant, but he has within the last few days joined the Navy. One 
is earning $20 a week learning the upholstering trade; three are 
getting the equivalent of $20 a week, one as a helper in a restau- 
rant and two as farm hands. Two work on milk wagons and one 
on a peddler's wagon for $8 a week. The others are helpers either 
in factories or on farms. 

The range of wages for those having eight-year old minds is 
from $10 to $28 a week. The one earning $28 is a firetender in a 
roundhouse. One receives $24 a week taking boards from a saw 
in a lumber yard. Of those earning $20 a week, one repairs auto- 
mobile radiators, and one nails boxes in a chocolate factory. In 
the $18 a week group one handles fruit in a freight yard, one 
works in a market, one is a boiler maker's helper, one repairs 
furniture, and two help on machines. One earns $16 as a stitcher 



in a tailor shop. Four others do rough work in factories and re- 
ceive from $10 to $16 a week. Two are farm hands receiving $20 
a month and board; one works in a stable for $10 a week; one 
gets $14 as an errand boy, and one sets up pins in a bowling alley 
for $10 a week. 

The range of wages for those with nine-year old minds is from 
$12 to $30 a week. Of the two getting $30 a week, one is a painter 
and the other a machinist's helper. One packs glass at $28 a week, 
and one is an elevator boy at $18 a week. The others work either 
in factories or on farms. 

The range of wages for those with a ten-year old mind is from 
$10 to $32 a week. One is an employee on the railroad at approxi- 
mately $32 a week. In this group are those who drive teams and 
trucks. One is an errand boy in a bank, one works in a private 
office and one is a canvasser. 

Of those over ten years old mentally, the range of wages is from 
$10 to $34 a week. One is "directing stock" in a factory and has 
seven men working under him. This boy's history is interesting. Be- 
fore entering the School he was a sex offender. When he was seven- 
teen years old he was allowed to go out, although against advice, but 
soon had to be returned to the School for the same offense. While at 
the School the second time he was a leader among the boys and 
seemed to get better control of himself. He went out again when 
between twenty-two and twenty-three years of age, and went into a 
manufacturing place as a helper. At that time he exhibited a 
great deal of ambition, wanting to accomplish something in the line 
of earning money. He also wanted to be respected and looked 
up to by other people. While he was a helper in the shop he 
attended night school and in every way tried to emulate his older 
brother who was attending one of the colleges. He was always 
pleasant and courteous in his manner and made friends easily. He 
was gradually promoted until during the peak of high wages he 
earned from $42 to $45 a week on piece work. When the business 
depression came and men were discharged he was put in charge of 
a certain simple part of the work with seven men under his direc- 
tion. His pay, however, was reduced to $30, which he is now 
receiving. In this same group of over ten years mentally there is 

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a truck driver at $30 a week and a painter at $26; one boy is turn- 
ing eggs in a hatchery, one who is nearly blind is a broom maker. 
A sixteen-year old boy is making $10 a week as an errand boy. 
Several boys in this group are doing factory work. 

It will be noticed that with the increase in the mental age the 
wage earned by the greatest number increases; that is, of those 
with eight-year minds the greatest number is earning $18 a week; 
of those with nine-year minds the greatest number is earning $20 
a week; of those with ten-year minds the greatest number is earn- 
ing $24 a week; and of those with a mentality of over ten years 
the greatest number is earning $26 a week. The minimum wage 
increases as the mental age increases, eg.: 

Those with less than an eight-year mind earn a minimum of $8 

Those with an eight-year mind earn a minimum of $10 

Those with a nine-year mind earn a minimum of $12 

Those with a ten-year mind earn a minimum of $10 

Those with over a ten-year mind earn a minimum of $10 

It will be seen that in the groups of ten years and over ten years 
mentally there is a drop to a minimum of $10 a week. This is 
probably due to the fact that in this group are boys who are chron- 
ologically younger and therefore do boys' work. 

The maximum wage also increases as the mentality increases: 
Those under eight years mentally receive a maximum of.... $26 

Those eight years mentally receive a maximum of $28 

Those nine years mentally receive a maximum of $30 

Those ten years mentally receive a maximum of $32 

Those over ten years mentally receive a maximum of $3\^ 

For those less than eight years of age mentally this does not 
seem consistent when there are as many earning $24 a week as there 
are earning $8. This may be due to the fact that those earning $24 
a week are hodcarriers, roofers' helpers, or workers doing similarly 
hard or dangerous work, and are, therefore, paid more. These 
same scales have since been worked out with twice this number of 
boys and show practically the same results. 

The range of the kinds of work is as wide and as varied as the 
range of wages. Of course, the younger boys, chronologically, 
from fifteen to seventeen years old are doing young boys' work; 



that is, they are messenger boys, office boys, errand boys, bundle 
boys, helpers in shops, etc. Some of these younger boys have a 
ten or eleven-year old mind. In the right environment and under 
the proper supervision, they may become good workmen, and may 
earn as much as the older boys of the same mental age. 

It is interesting to watch the progress of these younger boys. 
When they first go out at about fifteen years of age, they get the 
least important parts of the work, and earn from $6 to $10 a 
week. By the time they are seventeen years old they are earning 
from $12 to $15 a week. They often succeed in the same place 
in which they begin, their faithfulness bringing them promotion. 
The young tailor is an interesting example of this. At fifteen years 
of age with an I. Q. of .75 he went to work in a tailor shop as an 
errand boy, starting at $4.50 a week. At the end of a year, his 
pay being increased gradually, he was earning $10 a week as a 
"bushier." Later he learned to press at $12 a week, and in a 
few months was a presser at $14 a week. Now at seventeen years 
of age he is learning the stitcher's part of the trade, and is earning 
$16 a week. 

Probably the largest group of boys working is made up of lab- 
orers and helpers in factories. They can run simple machines and 
do the automatic work which does not require much intelligence. 
During this last winter a boy with a mental age of six years and 
ten months worked as a laborer for a contractor, earning $29.76 a 
week. Much of the time he mixed lime and carried a hod. In a 
family with a number of normal children he was the only member 
working and his money supported the family. This boy came to 
the School, at the age of twelve years, a quick-tempered, excitable 
imbecile; he went out at the age of eighteen years quiet, obedient, 
and with some degree of self-control. While at Waverley he re- 
ceived very careful training in the only kind of work which his 
mentality enabled him to do, and went directly from the school 
to his job. 

Another fair-sized group is successful on the farm. They are 
willing, faithful plodders, and though they may not like to get up 
early in the morning they do not, as a rule, think of objecting, but 
take it as matter of course. A number of boys are helpers on 



trucks and teams, while one or two do the actual driving. Milk 
.wagons also furnish a place for one or two of them. 

The mills and shops get the greatest number of these boys, as 
there are so many parts of the work which do not require high 
intelligence, but do require steady, constant, automatic movements 
on simple machines. There is also such work as lifting boxes, 
pushing trucks, sweeping floors, etc. For this type of work indus- 
try can use the trained feeble-minded. Many of the boys are doing 
work which they were trained to do while at Waverley; for exam- 
ple, some of them are employed as helpers in the kitchens of res- 
taurants and lunch-rooms, others are helpers in storerooms, and 
still others are painting. 

That these boys are a success is due to the fact that they are 
faithful, conscientious, methodical, unquestioning workers. While 
at Waverley they were trained to work steadily and faithfully, and 
to take pride in their work. They are painstaking with uninterest- 
ing details of their work and it matters not how simple it may be 
they take pride in doing it well. True, this pride needs to be stim- 
ulated by the interest shown by some one in authority. With 
this and a bit of praise the boys take pride in digging a 
ditch with smooth even sides, or in packing bricks into 
a hod firmly and evenly. They will do the same thing in just the 
same way day after day, and they will work until the bell rings. 
They seem to enjoy monotony instead of tiring of the repetition. 
As a rule they will take a direction (if they understand it) and will 
follow it without questioning or stopping to debate whether it is 
really their job or whether it belongs to someone else to do. They 
do what is expected of them. They will be there at seven A. M. 
and will not stop to reason if eight o'clock would be better. If 
they are expected to work overtime an hour they will do so and if 
questioned about how they like to work long hours they usually 
reply "I don't like to, but you know the boss wants to get this 
job done, and he can't if we don't work for him, and anyway he 
gives me some extra money for working overtime." If they can 
only be made to feel that they are expected to do a certain thing 
there is something compelling about this feeling, and they do the 
expected thing. 



Another great reason for their success is that these boys crave 
respectability. It is almost pitiable to see how they long to be 
looked upon as other men are, and to be thought of as "somebody." 
Many of them come from poor homes — homes that have been 
supported by charity and visited by the police. Before coming 
to the School they have felt the sting of scorn because they were 
slow in school and at play. They were ignored and therefore prac- 
tically ostracized because they could not "keep up." The joy and 
satisfaction they show at having any one notice and praise them, 
either upon their appearance and conduct or upon their savings or 
work is strong evidence that the love of approbation is a great 
factor in their success. Now that they have what they call a 
"chance" they exert every effort to suppress their unfortunate traits 
and habits, as they had been trained to do while at Waverley. They 
try not to let their fellow workmen know that they have been at 
the School or that there is anything going on that they do not 
understand. Some of the more intelligent ones get the reputation 
of being reserved because of their quiet with-drawing when the 
subject of discussion is beyond their comprehension. They try 
so hard to be and to act like their fellow workmen that with con- 
stant encouragement they succeed fairly well. 

While at the School they were taught the desirability of cleanli- 
ness. The officials of the School become their ideal of respecta- 
bility and they want to be as well dressed and as well thought of 
as the officers of the School. It is no uncommon thing to have a 
boy when he first goes out, write at the end of the first month 
and say that he cannot report that first Sunday because clothing is 
so high that he hasn't been able to get all that he wants and if he 
must come, can't he come early Sunday morning or on Saturday 
afternoon when there will be no other boys there. Unless it is a 
boy about whom there is some uncertainty he is allowed to wait 
until the second month to make his first report, for we have grown 
to realize how much this first report and the new clothes mean to 
him. Of course, they leave the School neatly and sufficiently well 
clothed, but this first new outfit seems to be an expression of their 
longing to be like others and to be respected. They almost never 
get clothing that is flashy. Either their native taste is good or 

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else it is because, in buying clothing, they get things which are as 
near as possible like those worn by people who have been their 
ideals. 

While at Waverley they are taught to save. They hear of bank 
books and look upon the possession of one as a sort of open sesame 
to higher levels of society. Therefore, following closely the new 
clothes comes the bank book, and they are fairly steady savers 
(with encouragement). One often wonders if they actually appre- 
ciate the value of money. It is something which they have never 
had much of and have little use for. Now, all at once, they are 
getting, what to them, is a large amount. After they get the new 
outfit and their board is paid they find they have some on hand. 
They put this remainder in the bank because "respectable" people 
do and because they are advised to do so by the School. Few of 
them have any real idea of the necessity of saving. In fact, it does 
not seem as if one of them realizes that this money will be of great 
help to him in a time of need. 

Few of them want, or expect, excitement. They are satisfied 
with the "movies" once or twice a week, and an occasional visit 
to the theatre. Seven of them attend dances, but not one of them 
takes a young lady with him. They have selected reputable places 
and leave at a fair hour. Many of these boys are still interested 
in base-ball, gymnasium work, and other athletics of various kinds. 
Most of them play on some neighborhood ball team. Swimming 
also is a source of great enjoyment to them. Many of them are 
'interested in their church, and are faithful in attendance. Small 
groups of them go for long walks on Sunday, while many of them 
enjoy walking up and down the streets looking into the shop win- 
dows, especially clothing store windows. Some of the boys have 
bicycles and get real enjoyment from them. On the whole their 
evenings are short, and most of them are spent at home with a 
victrola or games, or with books and papers, their evenings usually 
closing about nine o'clock. 

The following stories of two boys will show what is meant by 
some of the traits mentioned above. 

Tom is an illegitimate child who has no relatives and knows 
nothing of his ancestry. He was committed to the State Board of 

9 



Charities in 1901, and came to Waverley in 1914, being committed- 
to the School by the Overseers of the Poor. He had done no real 
harm, but had been unable to fit into any of their boarding homes. 
The only question of misconduct at that time was drinking. While 
at Waverley he exhibited few bad traits. He was friendly, quiet 
in his manner, fond of outdoor games, liked military drill, etc.,, 
but did not enjoy reading. He was fond of clothing, and when 
convenient would appropriate articles belonging to other boys. 

In July of 1918, he went out "on trial." \At first he went ta 
work as a teamster, earning $3 a day. He soon took up the habit 
of smoking and chewing, but did not again use liquor. At the end 
of a year and a half he was earning $20 a week and had saved 
^$205, some of which was in Liberty Bonds. In April, 1920, when 
he reported, he was earning $21 a week. He had been ill for twa 
months and had spent all but $25 of his savings. Up to this time, 
he had saved as most of the others do, simply because it was thought 
to be the correct thing to do. Now he shows a keen interest in his 
bank book and is proud of the fact that he was able to be self- 
supporting during his illness. 

Billy was born in 1896. He was admitted to the School in 1905 
and went "on trial" in 1915. He has a mentality of 9-4. He came 
with the history of insanity in his family. At first he was sly, 
dirty, and apt to take anything that he thought he wanted. He was 
saucy and disobedient and always trying to do something differ- 
ent from other people. He exhibited bad sex habits, was untruth- 
ful and selfish. Bill was in the School for 11 years, during which 
time he overcame these undesirable traits to a great measure. He 
became a slow, plodding boy, and although he instinctively felt 
the same inclinations he, at the same time, recognized the undesir- 
ability of allowing himself to exercise them. He went out "on 
trial" to live with his mother and grandfather. He spent his evenings 
at home, and according to latest accounts had beaten his grand- 
father 10,005 times at checkers, while his grandfather had beaten 
him only 3,025 times. His having played so many games of 
checkers in four years may account for his keeping out of trouble. 
After leaving the School he went to work in a factory at $9 a 
week. Later in the same year he went to work for one of the meat 

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packing places at $12 a week and began to save at the rate t r ftl 
a week. Perhaps all the credit does not belong to Billy, as lie 
turns most of his money over to his mother and she superintends 
the saving. 

Of these 100 boys only three have been arrested. One was re- 
turned to the School, and the other two were sent to reform schools. 
With the exception of the one boy returned to Waverley none of 
these boys has done anything of an immoral nature. All but two 
of the adults in this group have been self-supporting and most of 
them have helped in the support of their families. It is noticeable 
that after a boy's training has made him an asset to his family his 
people become interested in him and co-operate in his supervision. 

The School does not handle their money in any way. It does, 
however, advise, and to some extent direct, the use of their money. 
Neither does the School deal directly with the employers. In only 
four cases, where the boys had no people, were the arrangements 
made for them. On the whole, it seems to work out better to allow 
the boy, or his family, to make the contracts and obtain the posi- 
tion. 

These 100 boys studied have been living in the community for 
from ten months to five years. Most of them have been out of the 
School between two and three years. At present, when the pressure 
for admission of young teachable boys is so great, this community 
supervision for older trained boys makes it possible to admit those 
who so much need this training and who otherwise would become 
delinquents. 

This brief study of one hundred boys shows that, with few excep- 
tions, they have made good. Their success seems to be due to 
painstaking, constructive training received while at the School, and 
to proper supervision after going into the community. We feel that 
with continued friendly, helpful supervision and no humiliating 
circumstances connected with it, the average trained feeble-minded 
boy, properly brought up and trained to work, can live in the 
community and play his part. 



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